Fran E. Schroeder Architectural Records
Scope and Contents
The collection documents Fran E. Schroeder’s architectural career. It includes architectural drawings and renderings; photographs; reference material; materials concerning the Construction Specifications Institute; business correspondence; sketches; Christmas cards by Schroeder, Leslie F. Ayres, and Pierre and Wright, ca. 1930; a variety of scrapbook materials and memorabilia; and several award plaques.
The drawings are all from the office of Fran E. Schroeder and Associates. More than 120 buildings are represented. Most of the buildings are houses, churches, and schools. Most are for sites in Indianapolis and surrounding areas.
Many of the scrapbook items document the work of two other Indianapolis architectural firms, Pierre and Wright and McGuire and Shook, where Schroeder was employed prior to opening his own office. Among the buildings represented are the Milo Stuart Memorial Building at Arsenal Technical High School; the Indiana State Library and Historical Building; and Fendrick's Restaurant at Union Station, Indianapolis. Other scrapbook subjects are the Indianapolis Architectural Club, of which Schroeder was an active member and officer, and the Indianapolis Home Shows of 1931-1958. One pamphlet announces three new homes by the Architectural Guild of Indianapolis. A clipping (a map by Herbert Foltz) pertains to the Historic American Buildings Survey project in Indiana of 1934. Ephemeral items include souvenirs of the Century of Progress Exposition in Chicago, 1933, and travel stickers.
Dates
- Creation: 1920-1968
Language of Materials
Materials entirely in English.
Conditions Governing Access
This collection is open for research.
Copyright Notice
Legal title, copyright, and literary rights reside with Drawings and Documents Archive, Archives and Special Collections, Ball State University Libraries, Muncie, IN. All requests to publish or quote from manuscripts must be submitted to Drawings and Documents Archive.
Biographical Note
Fran (Francis) Schroeder (1908-1988), a native of Indianapolis, attended Butler and Purdue Universities, and the Beaux-Arts School of Design in New York. From 1929 to 1940 he was employed by Pierre and Wright, Architects, in Indianapolis. During World War II he was the resident architect for the Curtis-Wright Corporation. He joined the McGuire and Shook firm after the war and remained there until 1950 when he founded Fran E. Schroeder and Associates, Architects.
A charter member of the Indianapolis chapter of the Construction Specifications Institute (CSI), Schroeder served as vice president of that organization in 1961, as president for two terms (1962-1964), as newsletter editor, and in a variety of other capacities including chapter historian. He was the region director of CSI (1971-74) and served on the Jury of Fellows (1974-76).
Schroeder was active also in the American Institute of Architects, the Indiana Society of Architects serving as director, 1959-60, and secretary, 1960-61, the Construction League of Indianapolis, the Marion County Electrical Registration Board, and the Knights of Columbus.
He served 14 years as a director and as design chairman of the Indianapolis Christmas Committee.
Extent
6.4 Cubic Feet (1 flat file drawer, 1 OVA oversize archival box, 1 OVB oversize archival box, 5 manuscript boxes)
Arrangement
The Fran E. Schroeder Architectural Records are arranged chronologically.
Custodial History
The Fran E. Schroeder Architectural Records were received by Drawings and Documents Archive as a donation from Lilly E. Torres and Donald Wayne Torres Schroeder in 1997 and 2005.
Accruals
No further additions are expected.
Accruals
No additions are expected.
Processing Information
Collection processing completed. Finding aid created 1998/6/6 by Andrew R. Seager; revised 2011/11/1 by Julie Edwards; revised 2012/2/17 by Carol Street.
Subject
- Architectural Guild of Indianapolis (Indianapolis, Ind.) (Architect, Organization)
- Pierre & Wright, Architects (Architect, Organization)
- Wright, George Caleb (Architect, Person)
Source
- Ayres, Leslie F. (Architect, Person)
Cultural context
Genre / Form
- Architecture -- Designs and plans -- Presentation drawings
- Architecture -- Designs and plans -- Working drawings
- Art Deco
- Buildings, commercial
- Buildings, religious
- Buildings, residential
- Business records
- Clippings
- Correspondence
- Documents
- Drawings, architectural (visual works)
- Lodges, fraternal
- Photographs
- Printed ephemera
- School buildings
Geographic
Style / Period
Temporal
Topical
- Architectural Guild of Indianapolis (Indianapolis, Ind.)
- Architecture
- Architecture, commercial
- Buildings
- Century of Progress International Exposition (1933-1934 : Chicago, Ill.)
- Fran E. Schroeder and Associates, Architects
- Fraternal organizations
- Houses and homes
- Houses--Indiana--1930s
- Indiana Society of Architects
- McGuire and Shook Corporation
- Pierre & Wright
- Schroeder, Fran E., 1908-1988
- Title
- Fran E. Schroeder Architectural Records
- Status
- Completed
- Author
- Created by Andrew R. Seager; revised by Julie Edwards in 2011 and by Carol Street in 2012.
- Date
- Created 1998/6/6; revised 2011/11/1,2012/2/17.
- Description rules
- Describing Archives: A Content Standard
- Language of description
- Undetermined
- Script of description
- Code for undetermined script
- Language of description note
- English
Repository Details
Part of the Andrew Seager Archives of the Built Environment Repository
Architecture Building, Room 120
Muncie IN 47306 USA
765-285-8441
765-285-3726 (Fax)
libarchives@bsu.edu
